Railway safety appliance



' W. B. FOREMAN.

RAILWAY SAFETY APPLIANCE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 13. 1920 1,355,599. Patented Oct. 12, 1920.

/2 jig 16- I3 q 9 5 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE, A

WILLIAM BENJAMIN FOREMAN, OF LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY.

RAILWAY SAFETY APPLIANCE. I

Application filed July 13,

T 0 all whom it may concern Be it known that I, VILLIAM BENJAMIN FOREMAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at 3133 Portland avenue, Louisville, in the county of Jefferson and State of Kentucky, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway Safety Appliances, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to safety appliances for railways operating to automatically ap ply the brakes should any of the brake beams drop or become displaced.

The invention has for its object to provide a simple and eflicient device of the kind stated, and to this end it consists in a novel combination and arrangement of parts to be hereinafter described and claimed.

In order that the invention may be better understood reference is had to the accompanying drawing, and in said drawing Figure 1 is a front elevation of the device; Fig. 2 is aside elevation thereof, and Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a resilient clasp.

Referring specifically to the drawing, 5 denotes the train-line pipe of a standard airbrake system in which the brakes are applied by certain mechanism which functions when the air pressure in said pipe is reduced.

- A brake-beam is shown at 6, the same carrying shoes 7 for engaging the car wheels 8. The operating connections for the brakebeam have not been illustrated as they form no part of the present invention. A fragment of the truck frame is shown at 9,.and the beam 6 is shown suspended therefrom by hangers 10.

In the pipe 5 is interposed a vent valve of any suitable design, the casing of the valve being shown at 11. The valve is provided with an operating means consisting of a bellcrank or angle lever, the two arms of which are indicated at 12 and 13, respectively. A connection is made between the brake beam 6 and the valve-operating means, the same being a chain or other suitable pull device 14. One end of the chain 14 is fastened to the lever arm 12, and its other end is connected to the brake beam 6, the latter being below the valve-operating means, and the chain therefore hanging down or depending from the valve operating means.

The chain 14: also has a detachable connection with the lever arm 13. This connec- Specification of Letters Patent.

' Patented Oct. 12, 1920.

1920. Serial No. 395,959.

tion is made by a clasp 15 permanently connected to the lever arm 13 and having resilient jaws 16 within which the chain end adjacent to the lever arm 12 is placed.

When the vent valve 11 is closed, the lever arm 13 is in pendent vertical position, and the lever arm 12 is horizontal, and the valve opens when the lever arm 12 is pulled downwardly. The vent valve is, of course, normally closed, and when it is opened, the pressure in the pipe 5 is allowed to escape, and the consequent reduction of pressure in said pipe applies all the brakes of the train in the well-known manner.

The clasp 15 is strong enough to assist in the support of the brake-beam 6, but if the beam should get loose from any cause and start to drop, the chain 14 slips out of the jaws 16 of the clasp 15, so that the weight of the beam pulling on lever arm 12 through the chain, swings said arm down, and the valve 11 is thus opened to vent the pipe 5 and reduce the air pressure therein, resulting in the brakes of the train being automatically applied.

The device is very simple and eflicient, and it can be readily applied to any standard-airbrake system.

The preferred embodiment of the invention has been shown, but it will be apparent that various changes and modifications may 'be made without a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed hereinafter. The drawing shows only one brake beam and vent valve, but it is to be understood, that all the brake beams will be similarly equipped.

claim:

1. The combination with the train-line pipe of an air-brake system, and a brake beam, of a vent valve connected to said pipe, a valve-0perating means consisting of an angle lever having one of its arms vertical and its other arm horizontal when the valve is closed, and a connection between the brake beam and the horizontal arm of the lever, said connection being detachably fastened to the vertical lever arm.

2. The combination with the train-line pipe of an air-brake system, and a brake beam, of a vent valve connected to said pipe, a valve-operating means consisting of an angle lever having one of its arms vertical and its other arm horizontal when the valve is closed, a connection between the brake beam and the horizontal arm of thelever, means for operating said valve, and an acand a resilient clasp carried by-the vertical tuating connectionhetvveen' said means and 'lever arm and engageable W1th sald conneethe brake beam, sald connectlon having an 10 tion.

.5 3. The combination With the train-line fastened to the valve-operating means. pipe of an air-brake system, and 'a brake In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

beam, of a vent valve connected to said pipe, WILLIAM BENJAMIN FOREMAN.

intermediate portion Which is detachably 1 

